Things have definitely tightened up in the Great 8! With one more game to go in interleague play, my projected standings are:
1. Buffalo Penguins: 12-3
2. Retroz: ??
3. Athens All-Stars: 10-5
I think Buffalo could top Retroz in PD, even if Retroz beats Arapahoe. But I had no idea who to pick in that game. It looks like a complete toss up to me, with one team maybe having a stronger roster but a weaker game shape, while the other has solid contributors but is short a player and has poor game shape for their best player. Mind says Arapahoe, gut says Retroz.
Regardless, that brings us to the home stretch, each team with one more chance to beat its in-conference foes. Athens had two tough losses (not including the Trees, who could still pull off a few "upsets" this time around) the first time through, and I do believe they will end in 3rd. I must apologize to them for excluding them as a darkhorse. Even though they may potentially be 2 games out of 1st heading into the final stretch, you cannot sleep on them as I did. My apologies.
That brings me to Buffalo or Retroz and their marquee matchup (on tv!) on June 27th. This game was hard to predict, as I could see the winner going undefeated the rest of the way and taking 1st place. Difficult task? Yes. Impossible? By no means. They cannot take future opponents for granted, and they have to hope to stay healthy the rest of the way.
With that being said, I think Buffalo is just too much to handle inside, and will take the victory in that game, putting them in the driver seat the rest of the way. Will they go undefeated? That remains to be seen. Cay "Kobe" Pollmer and the high-octane offense Noob Squad pose a slight matchup problem, as the Penguins lost a heartbreaker in OT last time. But when the dust settles at the end, I believe Buffalo will be on top, even if they stumble along the way.
But, it should be an exciting finish!
I can't leave without mentioning my former conference, the Big 8. To probably no one's surprise, whoever wins the Jiros de Culiacan vs. Surfside Corsairs matchup should win the conference, as Surfside trails by 1 game but has a big PD advantage over Jiros. They have a couple of weeks to gear up for their game, and even though Jiros won the first game, I can't quite explain their two losses and have no idea which Jiros team will show up against Surfside. Because of that, and because I think Surfside has the better roster, I'm going with Surfside to take the #1 seed in the Big 8.